On today’s show, top bantamweight contender @MMARLONMORAES said he felt “a little bit embarrassed” to see the bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw lose the way he did on Saturday night.
“I just feel a little bit embarrassed, you know?” Marlon Moraes said on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show when speaking of TJ Dillashaw’s loss to Henry Cejudo. “Being a 135er and having our champion going down and losing… Because I’m a ’35er, he’s going down, representing us and he lost.
“I have a lot of friends at 125-pounds, I think the 125-pound division should stick around and they have a lot of guys. I think Henry, he fought and he was there representing all these guys. I wasn’t happy, because I’m happy when I win, and I love to watch those good fighters fighting but I was kind of cheering for Henry to win.”
Arguably next in line for a title shot at 135-pounds in the bantamweight division is the former World Series of Fighting champion, ‘Magic’ Marlon Moraes.
This didn’t stop Moraes from being highly invested in the champion vs champion bout that his division’s titleholder TJ Dillashaw recently participated in opposite flyweight king Henry Cejudo.
Needing only 32-seconds to close the show, Cejudo would reign supreme and earn his first title defense. But by defeating another champion in the process, it now throws things into questioning for Moraes’ future.
The rematch with Assuncao is as clear as it gets when it comes to No. 1 contender fights and the winner should undeniably be getting a crack at Dillashaw’s title.
Ultimately, they may have to end up waiting now that Dillashaw has lost to the champion in the division below him which could lead the UFC to make a rematch for Dillashaw’s title.
How the situation will sort itself out remains to be determined, but regardless, Moraes will need to pick up the win in two weeks.
This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 1/21/2019
UFC commentator Daniel Cormier has responded to Bo Nickal’s recent comments.
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Former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman will meet Eryk Anders next month.
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Alex Pereira has given his thoughts on being bumped into the #3 slot by Jon Jones on the latest UFC pound-for-pound rankings.
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Eddie Alvarez and Jeremy Stephens will meet at BKFC KnuckleMania 5 early next year.
‘The Underground King’ has quickly become one of the bare-knuckle boxing promotion’s biggest stars. After leaving ONE Championship in late 2022, Eddie Alvarez signed with BKFC. The following April, the former UFC lightweight champion put forth a ‘Fight of the Year’ contender in a five-round war with Chad Mendes.
Darren Till has a plan in place should he start to lose to Tommy Fury in their boxing match.
Till is set to return to the boxing ring on January 18 on a Misfits boxing card against Fury. It’s an intriguing matchup and after the fight got announced, the two held a press conference on Tuesday.
You won’t catch Jon Jones complaining about his new spot in the UFC’s official pound-for-pound rankings — but Dana White is another story.
Jones, the reigning UFC heavyweight champion and former light heavyweight champion, was back in action in the main event of UFC 309 last Saturday in New York City. He entered the Octagon with a reputation as one of the top pound-for-pound fighters competing today — even at 37 years old. He ultimately cemented that reputation with a dominant, third-round TKO win over former heavyweight king Stipe Miocic.
Conor McGregor believes there actually is enough tape of Tom Aspinall for Jon Jones to study.
The talk of the MMA world has been a potential title unification clash between Jones and Aspinall. “Bones” had a successful defense against Stipe Miocic this past Saturday night at UFC 309. Interim titleholder Aspinall was inside Madison Square Garden in New York City to witness the fight.
